| A | B |
|---|
| anacolouthon define | the grammatical sequence of the sentence changes |
| anastrophe define | inversion of usual word order |
| antithesis define | opposition or contrast of words or ideas |
| aposiopesis define | the abrupt and deliberate pause in a sentence. |
| assonance define | the recurrence of similar sounds |
| brachylogy define | omission of an element which should have been repeated; and must be supplied in order to complete the thought. |
| chiasmus define | arrangement of pairs in opposite order: ABBA word order |
| ellipsis define | omission of words understood but grammatically necessary |
| enallage define | shifting from one form to another (e.g. plural for singular) |
| epithet define | descriptive term or nickname |
| euphemism define | using a more agreeable expression in place of an unpleasant one |
| hendiadys define | expressing an idea by two nouns instead of using a noun and agreeing adjective |
| hyperbole define | exaggeration |
| hysteron - proteron define | the reversal of the natural order of things |
| irony define | stating an apparent fact with the intention of expressing the opposite; a form of light sarcasm |
| litotes define | double negative or affirming something by denying the opposite |
| metaphor define | a direct comparison |
| metonymy define | the substitution of one word for another which it suggests; in Latin metonymy often uses proper names |
| onomatopoeia define | word whose sound suggests its meaning |
| oxymoron; paradox define | apparently contradictory words combined into a single expression |
| personification define | attributing human qualities to inanimate objects |
| polysyndeton define | use of unnecessary conjunctions |
| synchysis define | interlocked word order: ABAB |
| syncope define | loss of letters by contraction |
| synecdoche define | part for the whole |
| tmesis define | separation of parts of a compound word |
| trajection; hyperbaton define | violent displacement of words |
| transferred epithet define | an epithet that is appended to some act or quality fo a person or thing |
| zeugma define | a condensed expression in which one word is made to stand for two or more ideas |
| alliteration define | repetition of the same letter at the beginning of successive words or syllables |
| anaphora define | repetition of a word, for emphasis, at the beginning of successive phrases or clauses |
| asyndeton define | omission of conjunctions where one would normally expect them |
| chiasmus | arrangement of pairs of words in crisscross order |
| ellipsis | omission of words necessary to the grammatical structure of the sentence, easily supplied from the context |
| oxymoron | the use in combination of apparently contradictory words |
| pleonasm | use of superfluous words |
| prolepsis | the use of a word sooner than is logically appropriate |
| simile | expressed comparison using " like" or "as" |
| synecdoche | the use of a part to represent a whole |
| tmesis | separation of a compound word by one or more intervening words |
| zeugma | use of a word in two connections, though one is more applicable |
| anadiplosis | a "doubling back" repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next |
| nosism | the use of "we" when you mean you or I |
| rhetorical question | asked for effect, not expecting a verbal answer |
| symmetry | a balanced arrangement |
| climax | arrangement in an order of ascending force |
| euphemism | substitution of a non-offensive expression |
| irony | expression contrary to the intended meaning |
| paronomasia | word play usingsimilar sounding words |
| aporia | feigned expression of doubt |
| antistrophe | repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive phrases |
| meiosis | understatment for ironic effect |
| commoratio | repeating the same idea but in different words, a restatement |
| embolalia | well, ugh, you know, how sometimes you trhrow in some words while you are, like, organizing your thoughts |
| apocope | dropping a letter at the end of the word |
| eusystolism | substitution of initials for complete words as a form of euphemism |
| syllepsis | the use of a word with two others where each word is understood differently |
| triad | use of group of three elements |
| Asyndeton anecdote | C.S. Lewis: Forget psychology. Forget the inside of men's heads. Judge them by their actions. For example, Mr. Whistler is asleep. Now, from that action, I take it that he has no interest in what I have to say. The puzzle is, that being the case, why is he here at all? So, we construct a plot from Mr. Whistler's actions: he comes, he sleeps. Now, Aristotle would say that the next question is not why, but what is Mr. Whistler going to do next? [Mr. Whistler wakes up.] Good morning, Mr. Whistler. My class is not compulsory, neither are my chairs very comfortable. I suggest -- Peter Whistler: Alright, I'm going. C.S. Lewis: Thank you. He comes, he sleeps, he goes. So the plot thickens.... |
| Asyndeton motto | "Be one of the few, the proud, the Marines." |
| Asyndeton example | "The union's survival, its very existence, sent out a signal to all Hispanics that we were fighting for our dignity, that we were challenging and overcoming injustice, that we were empowering the least educated among us, the poorest among us. The message was clear: If it could happen in the fields, it could happen anywhere: in the cities, in the courts, in the city councils, in the state legislatures." -- Cesar Chavez |
| analogy passage | Huey P. Long: "The Democracy Party and the Republican Party were just like the old patent medicine drummer that used to come around our country. He had two bottles of medicine. He'd play a banjo and he'd sell two bottles of medicine. One of those bottles of medicine was called Hipopalorum. And another one of those bottles of medicine was called Lopopahirum. Finally, somebody around there said, 'Is there any difference in these medicines?' 'Oh,' he said, 'considerable.' 'They're both good, but they're different.' He said, 'that Hipopalorum is made from the bark off the tree that we take from the top down. And that Lopopahirum is made from the bark that we take from the root up.' And the only difference that I have found between the Democratic leadership and the Republican leadership was that one of them was skinning from the ankle up and the other one from the ear down, when I got to Congress. |
| Anadplosis passage | Margaret Thatcher: "Of course our vision and our aims go far beyond the complex arguments of economics, but unless we get the economy right we shall deny our people the opportunity to share that vision and to see beyond the narrow horizons of economic necessity. Without a healthy economy we can’t have a healthy society and without a healthy society the economy won’t stay healthy for long." |
| Alliteration slogan immediate juxaposition | "I think a need a bigger box." |
| Alliteration immediate juxaposition | "Our Founding Fathers created a system of government of men, not of angels. No one standing in this house today can pass a puritanical test of purity that some are demanding that our elected leaders take." -- Richard Gephardt, " |
| anaphora example | "I want the American people to know this truth: The FBI is honest. The FBI is strong. And the FBI is, and always will be, independent." -- James Comey, Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing, 8 June 2017 |
| anaphora passage | "Upon the national will to sacrifice and to work depends the output of our industry and our agriculture. Upon that will depends the survival of the vital bridge across the ocean, the bridge of ships that carry the arms and the food for those who are fighting the good fight. Upon that will depends our ability to aid other nations, which may determine to offer resistance. Upon that will may depend practical assistance to people now living in nations that have been overrun, should they find the opportunity to strike back in an effort to regain their liberty; and may that day come soon." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, On the War in Europe |
| Aposiopesis example | "At this juncture I want to get into -- By the way I was told to give you some advice about the media. You don't know how small I feel giving you advice, but I’ll be glad to anyway since I’ve been asked to." -- Rush Limbaugh, Address to the incoming House GOP Freshmen |
| Catachresis example | "The President's decision yesterday, to set into motion the development of the hydrogen bomb, has placed us on a knife edge of history." -- Henry M. Jackson |
| Distinctio sports example | "I've been in football all my life, really, and I want to say this -- that it's a great game, and it's a Spartan type of game. I mean by that it takes Spartan qualities in order to be a part of it, to play it. And I speak of the Spartan qualities of sacrifice and self-denial rather than that other Spartan quality of leaving the weak to die." -- Vince Lombardi |
| Distinctio example | "'We need a re-moralization of society. And we need it most urgently today because we are approaching a state of demoralization. Two senses of demoralization: the familiar one of the loss of morale -- of contentment and good spirit; and the more serious one of the loss of morality, of moral bearings and convictions." -- Gertrude Himmelfarb, John M. Ashbrook Memorial Dinner Address |
| Epistrophe example | "I said you're afraid to bleed. [As] long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people. But when it comes time to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls be[ing] murdered, you haven't got no blood." -- Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots |
| exemplum example | "We have tried since the year nineteen hundred and thirty-five to educate our local unions to the acceptance of area-wide contracts, with membership as large as international unions have in the entire United States. As an example, we have 165,000 members in New York city; we have 147,000 in Chicago; we have 140,000 in Los Angeles." -- Jimmy Hoffa, 1962 Address at Harvard University |
| personification with anaphora example | "I'm gonna speak to this mountain -- whether it's a mountain of sickness, whether it's a mountain of debt; whether it's a mountain of loneliness; whether it's a mountain of despair -- whatever this mountain is." -- T.D. Jakes, All I Have is a Seed on my Side |
| personification example | "In Torquemada's time, there was at least a system that could, to some extent, make righteousness and peace kiss each other. Now, they do not even bow." -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy |
| sententia example | "In this time of nuclear weaponry, we cannot afford to wait for the fight to come to us. You need to understand that. This political correctness stuff is a bunch of crap. This generation is so goddamned spoiled and lazy they wouldn't know a real threat to their freedom until it interrupted the power source to their Xbox and killed a half a million people. The complacency of fools will destroy them." -- Mike Kaminski as George C. Scott's Patton |
| Anesis example | “Democracies can't function without a strong relationship between a free and independent press, and a transparent and accountable government. I'm continually impressed by the serious coverage, and the wide variety of media outlets that exist here in Japan. And one of the good things is that, unlike at home, I can't understand most of what you say." -- Caroline Kennedy, Address at the National Press Club of Japan |
| Appositio (apposition) example | "Here, in the great, liberal state of Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty and abolitionism, a woman was arrested on a minor criminal charge." -- Pauli Murray |
| Enthymeme example | "The gloves didn't fit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." -- Johnny Cochran, Closing arguments of the O.J. Simpson trial - If the gloves didn't fit, you must acquit. (major premise) - The gloves didn't fit. (minor premise) - You must acquit. (conclusion) |
| Epitheton example | "Now, in this anxious autumn from those heroic men, there comes back an answering appeal." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952 Stump Speech |
| Polysyndeton example | "I ask you to look back on your moments of powerlessness. Look back to that moment where you had to get on your knees and scrub and sweep and mop and wax and buff and buff and buff and rebuff and buff again, a floor that someone was going to walk on and promptly scuff two minutes later. That feeling is what it is to be human. Humble yourself and accept your humanity -- and don't deny it in others." -- DeCarol Davis, 2008 US Coast Guard Academy Commencement Address |
| Anadiplosis example | "They call for you: The general who became a slave; the slave who became a gladiator; the gladiator who defied an Emperor. Striking story. Now the people want to know how the story ends." -- delivered by Joaquin Phoenix (from the movie Gladiator) |
| Antimetabole example | "Action without study is fatal. Study without action is futile." -- Mary Beard |
| Enumeratio example | "[During World War II] men, women, young and old -- everyone had a role. Farm boys who had never been in an airplane were soon flying new bombers with four engines. Surgical nurses were in mash units on front lines operating while they were being shelled. Teenagers were wearing sergeant stripes and fighting from North Africa to Rome. Guys from the city streets were in close quarter combat in dense jungles. Women were building ships and whatever else was needed and driving trucks. Kids went without gum and new toys and in too many cases they went the rest of their lives without fathers they never knew." -- Tom Brokaw, WWII Memorial Dedication Address |
| Epizeuxis example | "Warning! Warning! Warning! Alien approaching!" -- from the movie Lost in Space |
| rhetorical question | "Sir, at long last, have you left no sense of decency?" -- Joseph Welch, The Army-McCarthy Hearings |
| symploce (anaphra/epistrophe) | "Much of what I say might sound bitter, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it's stirring up trouble, but it's the truth. Much of what I say might sound like it is hate, but it's the truth." -- Malcolm X |
| Antithesis | "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!" -- Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream |
| Euphemismos | Will: “We’re going to steal the ship? That ship? Jack: “Commandeer. We’re going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term.” -- delivered by Johnny Depp & Orlando Bloom (from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) |
| Hypophora with anaphora and antithesis | "In 1982, corporate growers gave [George] Deukmejian one million dollars to run for governor of California. Since he took office, Deukmejian has paid back his debt to the growers with the blood and sweat of California farm workers. Instead of enforcing the law as it was written against those who break it, Deukmejian invites growers who break the law to seek relief from governor's appointees. What does all this mean for farm workers? It means that the right to vote in free elections is a sham. It means the right to talk freely about the union among your fellow workers on the job is a cruel hoax. It means that the right to be free from threats and intimidation by growers is an empty promise. It means that the right to sit down and negotiate with your employer as equals across the bargaining table and not as peons in the fields is a fraud. It means that thousands of farm workers, who are owed millions of dollars in back pay because their employers broke the law, are still waiting for their checks. It means that 36,000 farm workers, who voted to be represented by the United Farm Workers in free elections, are still waiting for contracts from growers who refuse to bargain in good faith. It means that for farm workers child labor will continue. It means that infant mortality will continue. It means that -- It means that malnutrition among children will continue. It means the short life expectancy and the inhuman living and working conditions will continue." -- Cesar Chavez, Commonwealth Club Address |
| Hypophora | "When the enemy struck on that June day of 1950, what did America do? It did what it always has done in all its times of peril. It appealed to the heroism of its youth." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower, I Shall Go to Korea Address |
